The Water Cooler

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Dny1979 said...

Just a question because I am totally clueless when it comes to law. I’m not even really sure what my question is here, but for any of you who have knowledge of this sort of thing, any comments would be appreciated.

My wife’s mother has been in a nursing home since the day I met her – since she was roughly 49 years old. She has MS, Alzheimer’s and has had multiple strokes. She is also legally blind. Needless to say, since I met my wife, her mother’s conditions have gotten considerably worse.

My wife’s grandmother was in a nursing home years ago, and had a caregiver because she needed full time attention. Well, grandmother’s caregiver was the power of attorney over her. My wife’s  mom eventually moved into the same nursing home with her mother, my wife’s grandmother. Over time, especially with my wife being out of town with me while on work assignments, and her mom needing full time attention, this same lady was asked to become the POA over my wife’s mom as well. My wife did not like this at all, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She basically didn’t like it because A. it’s her mother. B. Her mom couldn’t even make that decision for herself. C. She never trusted this lady. Anyways, my wife’s grandmother basically really liked this caregiver woman and insisted that my wife’s mom give her the POA. So that happened.

Fast forward 2 years to roughly 2009. My wife’s grandmother passes away. This caregiver lady who has the POA over my wife’s mom also sells the house that  my wife grew up in, for around 200k. Wife is obviously very upset at this time.

Fast forward to now/this week, my wife got a letter in the mail from this caregiver lady’s attorney saying that she was next in line to become power of attorney over her mom if she wanted that responsibility. She went down the Spartanburg yesterday to sign the paper. Thats all she would sign...While there, she learns that this lady has spent all of her mom’s money from the house she sold. Her mom now has no money and the lady has decided that she now no longer wants the responsibility as the POA.

The lady told my wife that all of the money is gone, and she cannot provide a history or receipts for where the money went, but that it’s just gone.

I know that this lady was the POA for the past 5 years when all of this transpired, BUT, is there a law or something about this sort of thing? Taking advantage of someone while you are their POA, exhausting all of their monies, and then simply dumping them when you have no more use for them? My wife’s mom cannot even get out of a bed. She cannot walk. The state paid for her to love in the nursing home. Zero of that 200k was used for her.

Sorry if this is tough to read and understand. Just curious if anyone knows anything about stuff like this. Thanks

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Dny1979 said...

Just a question because I am totally clueless when it comes to law. I’m not even really sure what my question is here, but for any of you who have knowledge of this sort of thing, any comments would be appreciated.

My wife’s mother has been in a nursing home since the day I met her – since she was roughly 49 years old. She has MS, Alzheimer’s and has had multiple strokes. She is also legally blind. Needless to say, since I met my wife, her mother’s conditions have gotten considerably worse.

My wife’s grandmother was in a nursing home years ago, and had a caregiver because she needed full time attention. Well, grandmother’s caregiver was the power of attorney over her. My wife’s  mom eventually moved into the same nursing home with her mother, my wife’s grandmother. Over time, especially with my wife being out of town with me while on work assignments, and her mom needing full time attention, this same lady was asked to become the POA over my wife’s mom as well. My wife did not like this at all, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She basically didn’t like it because A. it’s her mother. B. Her mom couldn’t even make that decision for herself. C. She never trusted this lady. Anyways, my wife’s grandmother basically really liked this caregiver woman and insisted that my wife’s mom give her the POA. So that happened.

Fast forward 2 years to roughly 2009. My wife’s grandmother passes away. This caregiver lady who has the POA over my wife’s mom also sells the house that  my wife grew up in, for around 200k. Wife is obviously very upset at this time.

Fast forward to now/this week, my wife got a letter in the mail from this caregiver lady’s attorney saying that she was next in line to become power of attorney over her mom if she wanted that responsibility. She went down the Spartanburg yesterday to sign the paper. Thats all she would sign...While there, she learns that this lady has spent all of her mom’s money from the house she sold. Her mom now has no money and the lady has decided that she now no longer wants the responsibility as the POA.

The lady told my wife that all of the money is gone, and she cannot provide a history or receipts for where the money went, but that it’s just gone.

I know that this lady was the POA for the past 5 years when all of this transpired, BUT, is there a law or something about this sort of thing? Taking advantage of someone while you are their POA, exhausting all of their monies, and then simply dumping them when you have no more use for them? My wife’s mom cannot even get out of a bed. She cannot walk. The state paid for her to love in the nursing home. Zero of that 200k was used for her.

Sorry if this is tough to read and understand. Just curious if anyone knows anything about stuff like this. Thanks

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